Clothes-pin.



W. P. SIMS.

CLOTHES PIN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.3, 1909.

995,298, Patented June 13, 1911.

.TES AT FIQE.

WALTER P. SIMS, OF ILO, IDAHO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 ILO HARDWARE AND IMPLEMENT COMPANY, LTD., OF ILO, IDAHO.

CLOTHES-PIN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER P. SIMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ilo, in the county of Nez Perce and State of Idaho, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Pin, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are, generally, the provision, in a mcrchantable form, of a device of the class above specified which shall be inexpensive to manufacture, facile in operation and devoid of complicated parts; specifically, the provision of a clothespin comprising jaws having movement both transversely and in the direction of their length; and of novel means for actuating and for locking the said jaws; other and further objects being made manifest hereinafter as the description of the invention progresses.

The invention consists in the novel const-ruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in that portion of this instrument wherein patentable novelty is claimed for certain distinctive and peculiar features of the device, it being understood that'within the scope of what hereinafter is thus claimed divers changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 shows my invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, dotted lines indicating the ultimate position of one of the jaws.

In carrying out my invention, I provide, primarily, a pair of jaws denoted by the numerals 1 and 2. These jaws l and 2 may be pivotally united intermediate their ends by any suitable means whereby they may have movement both transversely and in the direction of their length. In the present instance, I have inclosed the jaws 1 and 2 between fiat plates 3, pivot elements 4 being passed transversely through the ends of the plates 3 and through the aws, which are ineluded between the said plates. The jaws l and 2 are spaced apart at the point of their pivotal union so that they, the said jaws,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1909.

Patented June 13, 1911.

Serial No. 487,644.

may not only be tilted transversely to bring their ends into contact, but also be moved longitudinally upon and with respect to each other. The jaw 2 is longitudinally slotted at one end to form arms 6, between which is mounted, upon a suitable pivot element 9 'a lever 7, having an eccentrically disposed head 8, arranged to engage a seat 5, which is formed by an incision in the edge of the said jaw 1. At the ends of the jaws 1 and 2, which are remote from the lever 7 and the seat 5, the contiguous or gripping faces of the jaws are undulatcd as seen. The undulations consist of scallops 10 adjacent the main pivot and of a size and shape to admit the clothes line not shown, and below these scallops there are elevations 11 and depressions 12 disposed in relatively alternated arrangement so that they are adapted to intermesh as seen in Fig. 2.

In use the pin as shown in Fig. l is passed over a garment which hangs on a line and pressed down onto it until the clothes line stands between the scallops 10, and at this time the active faces of the jaws may be pressed apart farther than as seen in Fig. 1 until the low side 8 of the eccentric leverhead rests within the seat 5. Said lever is then depressed so that the head turns slightly within the seat and a higher portion 80 of its face is interposed between said seat and the pivot 9, and this spreads the upper ends of the members 1 and 2 and approximates their working faces. Continued movement of the lever to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2 will then cause the head at the point 80 to turn within the seat 5 so that the right member 2 is depressed relatively to the left member 1 and the elevations 11 in said right member move downward a trifle and pass out of the depressions 12 in the left member and slightly up their inclined faces, thereby imparting a very firm grip to the undulations upon the garment where it hangs beneath the clothes line. It will thus be seen that in the closing or downward movement of the lever 7 two actions take place, first the cam face of the head approximates the working faces of the jaws straight toward each other and if the garment be quite bulky the lever need not be moved beyond its initial position, and second if the lever is moved farther the higher cam face of the head produces a longitudinal movement of one jaw relatively to the other so that if the garment is rather thin the undulations will clasp it very firmly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect, by Letters Patent, is

A clothes pin comprising two aws, plates pivotally connecting them at about their midlength, the adjacent edges of their working faces being undulated below said plates and the undulations forming scallops for the clothes line and intermeshing elevations and depressions, one jaw having a seat in its inner edge above the plates and the other being slotted into arms projecting above the plates, and a locking lever having a head conforming in size and shape to said seat and pivoted eccentrically between said arms whereby when the lever is moved to locking position the jaws will have longitudinal as well as lateral movement with relation to each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signa ture in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER P. SIMS.

Vvitnesses:

JOHN J. 001), VERNER V. SIMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

